Andrew Smith: Veteran, Amputee, and now Craftsman

Andrew Smith holds up an American flag he sells under his Riser Burn woodworking business.

Andrew Smith's workshop is one of his favorite places to be. His tools are not just a way to create his craft. He says, the motions are actually therapeutic.

Andrew was injured by an IED in Afghanistan in 2012. He lost both his legs, and since then, he and his wife have been working to help wounded veterans. And now the symbol of the country he was hurt protecting, is helping him build his business.

Each strip of wood will be a stripe of the American flag. His calls his shop Riser Burn and sold his first wooden flag on Veteran's Day. "I was a paratropper in the 82nd airborne," Smith says. "When you jump out of the plane, you are supposed to tuck your chin to your chest and if you don't the parachute will basically give you a rash."

And now, years after his injury, Smith is staying busy. "When you're in the military you've always got that mission and that goal," Smith says. "If you don't have something to use that energy bad things can happen, you get depressed some turn to alcohol. I think it's extremelty important to find your passion." Not a hard task for this veteran who gives so much as a husband, now father, and craftsman. "I've been very blessed, I'm just thankful to still be alive and doing things that I love."